Thoughts on the world right now

I guess this might be a snapshot into my brain, and it will probably come out jumbled, which will be somewhat amusing to some people. I will give it a go, though.

Being on Facebook has done a lot to help me understand where people are coming from. I have VERY strong convictions on a number of things, mostly having to do with being a Catholic who actually thinks that guy with the hat at the Vatican actually knows what he is talking about, and so did every guy before him all he way back to Peter. Jesus gave him the keys, and every successor, when speaking from the Chair of Peter, has spoken truth since then. Even the sinful Popes have done so. Amazing.

My strong convictions have to do with abortion, birth control, liberalism, the government's place in our lives, and how to be a faithful Catholic. I guess it comes down to people taking long-term responsibility for their lives, and having a long view of how certain personal and political decisions are going to play out, not just for this year, bur for 100 years. Not to mention in the next life.

I've been reading Bill O'Reilly's "Culture Warrior", and it's better than I expected. He spells things out that are a problem in society. He also spells out what the media is up and why, and what he's done right and also wrong over the years in trying to dissect the liberal media. It's incredibly interesting, really. The part I do like, is that he'll say right away what he likes and what he doesn't like about a person, and he's fair about it. Al Franken? Outright liar, not even with brains. And he provides very obvious proof. Molly Ivins, doesn't agree with her, but thinks she has a brain. I find this very interesting.

Why do I find this interesting? Well, it comes back to Facebook, too. What I have found out lately is that, even more than I thought, you simply cannot put most people in boxes. I think God is beating me over the head, trying to teach me this, but at least I'm open to learning it. I'm not sure if enough people are. OK, I'm quite, quite sure not enough people are.

For instance, on Facebook, I have VERY liberal friends. I have VERY conservative friends. I have friends who have stated they think government has a bigger say over my children than I do. I have friends who think feminism was the beginning of all our problems, and should be abolished. I have a friend who is gay, and very pro-life, too. I have a protestant cousin operating an MAF base in Kathmandu who is able to tell me that people will change the world long before any government does, because her husband was one of the first to fly into Aceh Province after the great big tsunami a few years ago.

Today I thought I was having a nice discussion with someone about that. I think she got mad at me. It's a relative of a friend of mine, and most of the family is pretty liberal, but I was explaining to her that my cousin said that Aceh was formerly a very fundamental Muslim, Christian-and-Western Civ-hating group of people. Those who did somehow survive the tsunami found out that their government was not the first to bring supplies. Christian missionaries were. And those missionaries could speak the language. And that mattered. It mattered much more than the UN troops or anyone else did. Because these were people, and they cared, and they brought hope and love and food and medication. The woman I spoke to (and her relative) seemed to think, "Well, government SHOULD help its people." Nobody can really disagree with that. But, does it? When has it? Really? Over a long period of time, across several leaders, have you ever seen a government really provide for its people on a large scale, without giving up some serious freedom? Or has it become corrupt? The only organizations I see making a real difference in the third world right now are the private ones. Heifer International, The Gates Foundation, all the religious... but not the governments. They send money, and it gets eaten. When you send people, things really start to happen. Because people to people matters. Somehow, I thought that "people make the real difference" would actually strike a chord with a liberal mindset person. But instead, the conversation ended rather abruptly. I thought they were all about people power. I'm so confused....

In Bill O'Reilly's book, he says that die-hard liberals want their government to provide for them. They think that is what it is FOR. He counters that thought by saying that our founding fathers think the government is a clearinghouse to make and centralize laws and to manage infrastructure, but to basically get out of the way of the people so they have opportunities to succeed. If they fail to grasp that opportunity, that's their own problem. Free will is like that. The number of laws we have is just staggering. They've taken the place of common sense. It just amazes me that folks think more laws and more government are what we need, but again, I can see what they mean. Obvious to me, though, is that it isn't the system so much that is broken, but the people in it who are allowed by other people to be greedy.

I could go on and on about this book, but I won't here.

What I have learned lately, is that as much as I personally dislike being put in the "conservative Catholic lotsa kids NFP homeschooler nutjob" category, my liberal friends who are pro-life are very annoyed at being called "right wing terrorists" recently in a homeland security memo. No one should be in a box. We're simply more convenient to handle if we are put in them and told what to think. Sometimes we listen too attentively to people and let ourselves be put in a box. Protestants believe what their pastor tells them about Catholics, because, religion being his business, of course he would know. Except he doesn't. People who are like me often make the same mistake. And I am tired of the name calling. I think sometimes, as we get older, we have our friends and we don't like to become uncomfortable by making friends with people who strongly disagree with us, whose minds we are not likely to change. It IS uncomfortable, but I think it's worth it. Still trying to figure out if the stress I feel sometimes really is worth it.

So ponder whether you are in a box, and whether you have been boxing people lately. I know I have. I think it is human error. But like all human error, with some prayer and determination, we can all work to be better. And we should keep up dialogue when at all possible with people we strongly disagree with. We don't have to change our priorities and minds, we don't have to give up positions we'd lay down our lives for. Just listening is good for us.